Summary:
I think this game is amazing but it is being poorly handled and needs improvement before anyone should play it with good expectations. Now remember that this is criticism, not hate.
Now remember before reading this, I heard this game was made by a Single Dev over 15 Years. So be lenient if you think too strongly before making your decision on some of these things, it can be difficult making a game with a 1-Man team.
- Intensely engrossing economy gameplay mechanic which is fun to learn and play with
- Good Community after you stick yourself in there and show that you wont blindly obey everything they do
- No Tutorial and Horrible Environment towards New Player
- The Pay to Win mechanic is so bad it's basically Pay to Play
- The Game is NOT advertised as a Trial, even though it basically is
- Too much Focus on Minigames rather than the Real Game
Ideas for Improvement:
- Purchasable Upgrades at the Government (Wagons, Engine for Speed, ect.)
- Different Pay to Win mechanic other than a Residential Permit, I don't mind the Wagon. Maybe a "Stock" idea where they gain so much money per irl week or so
- Less Focus on Minigames
- I suggest you open a Patreon for players that enjoy the game immensely and are willing to pay more and in a way that doesn't affect the game entirely (You can add extra benefits
- An In-Game tutorial that shows the basics and even how some businesses work.
Therefore I think the game really needs to improve before the public attempts to play it again.
In fact, when it approves I would love to be informed, because I think the game is amazing and would love to play it some more, but not when the game is in this current state.
After about 20 Hours of playing the game I have a good understanding of the gameplay, the community, and where the game will be in a couple of years.
I think the game will begin hitting very negative reviews from people with less than 0.5 hours on record because they don't understand the game, negative reviews from people with extensive hours in the game that hit the paywall like myself, or good reviews from people with hours on the game that haven't hit the pay wall yet.
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Criticism
Firstly, I think the game is falsely advertised as a Free to Play game, when in reality the game is just a Trial of what it really is.
All players
Another thing, I don't mind paying for the game, in fact I had already planned on purchasing cosmetics and more in the game because I think it's an amazing experience and idea for a game which isn't done commonly nowadays. But I refuse to pay for the game and support the resident permit idea which I greatly disagree with.
The game is very unfriendly towards new players and most of the time manipulates them into joining their workhouses, or jobs they require for minimal pay when they could easily pay more and still gain profit but choose not to and to hurt the new players.
There is no tutorial, only a dated guide on their website which doesn't give a real sense of direction and is sprawn all over the one page, making it very difficult to get the understanding of where you're even supposed to begin.
Usually you rely on experienced players for help which end up abusing you without you even realizing it, they'll just as quickly tell you how to learn a skill and get placed into one of their workhouses or factories.
In the game's current state it is heavily Pay to Win, which I think was the idea in the first place, in it's current state it seems like a Cash Grab with falsely advertised gameplay to lure in Players. There are wagons you can buy to increase your inventory capacity by up to x4, which is a lot more than you think and saves a LOT of time, money, and fuel.
There's also my least favorite idea, the Resident Permit, which makes it so that you can buy up to 6 Buildings instead of the normal one.
Personally, I greatly disagree with this mechanic in a game built around building an empire of business and opportunity. This greatly limits the free players which is why many of the players say that this free to play mechanic is a "TRIAL", which I think should have been stated up front if that was the intended purpose.
Since I'm not willing to pay for the Resident Permit, I'm basically done with the game since I can no longer advance, which is another reason I'm upset is because I want to keep playing but I no longer can without playing the Resident Permit, because I would be wasting my time.
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Suggested Imrpovements
I feel as if there were upgrades you could purchase other than the complete Tractor V2 and were able to buy Wagons and Engines and other parts to increase the Tractor would be much more engrossing as the players feel the NEED to imrpove themselves.
I understand that money is needed to keep the servers running and it can't just be your own, so that's why I suggest a Patreon, and other ways could be Cosmetics, maybe some "Stocks" mechanic that makes it so you make so much money a week or so. There a lot of ways to do it without handicapping players in a free to play game, although if you're going for a Pay to Play game then it's understandable, but I suggest you do this in a more honest way.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy minigames and the distraction for active players by minigames, but they shouldn't be the main focus and they shouldn't be so common. They DEFINITELY shouldn't be a part of the main map where towns or other things could have been built. I understand this isn't a very good point, but it's my opinion.
A tutorial would work wonders for new players, as they're incredibly lost in this complicated game
If any of you would like to debate about what I should add or delete from this review, or just talk about it, feel free to comment. Thank you for reading.
